On the ground in Za'atari: children of the Syrian conflict

Updated
Sun 20 Oct 2013, 12:46 PM AEDT

Photo

Two young girls peer out from their tent at Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan.

Save the Children: Mohamad Alasmar

Australian aid worker Stephen McDonald travelled to Jordan to visit the Za'atari refugee camp. In a piece for the ABC, the head of Humanitarian Emergencies with Save the Children writes about his experiences with children at the refugee camp and the challenges aid workers are facing.

In response to the refugee crisis now building due to conflict in Syria, the ABC has broadcast a national appeal, asking Australians to donate money for humanitarian relief.

For more information and the list of agencies working in the region or how to donate go to abc.net.au/appeals.

Less than 24 hours after arriving in Jordan, I found myself in a car on my way to Za'atari, one of the largest refugee camps in the world and home to more than 120,000 people, all forced from their homes during the devastating conflict in Syria.

Approaching the camp, the landscape is what first struck me. Utterly barren - it makes central Australia look like a lush, green paradise - the effect was amplified by the glaring reflection of the sun beating down on the white tents.

Once inside the gates, we were met with a mass of people, making their way through the tents, streets, informal markets and shops that have sprung up. Right away, the emotion was palpable: an overriding sense of despair and frustration.

Families I soon spoke to expressed their frustration and despair in equal measure: at not being able to go home, at their inability to work and earn an income, at having their food given to them once every two weeks - and growing to rely on these hand-outs instead of being able to support themselves and their children.

Speaking to family after family, the picture that emerged was both terrifying and infuriating. Terrifying because I have children of my own and can barely fathom how I would care for and protect them if put in this challenging situation, and infuriating because as an aid worker, I knew from over a decade of experience there was so much more we could do to support these children if we had the funds to do it.

Without adequate funding, aid agencies like Save the Children are having to make difficult choices as to which activities to prioritise - we know more is needed, and we know what is at stake.

Children tell stories of trauma and terror

Parents are deeply worried about their children, how to better support them and help them overcome the traumatic experiences they have gone through, well beyond what any child should ever be exposed to.

Speaking to the children, their need for support to recover from their experiences quickly became obvious.

One girl, 13-year-old Farah, told me about how her father, a pharmacist, was shot in the leg by a sniper one day on his way to work.

He was unable to work and the family's struggle was quickly compounded when he was kidnapped. He was only released after the family paid over the remaining cash they had saved to survive.

Soon after, Farah's uncle and cousin were shot and killed, forcing the newly destitute family to gather what they could and flee for their lives.

The journey Farah described to me is not one she will likely forget: the constant fear of being hit by shelling or snipers, and the pain and humiliation at every checkpoint, where Farah and her family were forced to part with more and more of their belongings to cover the bribes that would enable them to cross.

By the time they made it to Jordan, they had nothing left apart from the clothes on their backs.

The stories vary from one child to the next, but one feature remains constant: terror. Some told me about how they saw their family members shot in front of them, others about how relatives went out to buy food - they had to bribe their way out without getting shot - and then would come home only to have their food later stolen.

While some children have been living in Za'atari for over a year, others continue to arrive on a daily basis. All need support in overcoming their experiences, and this is where Save the Children comes in.

With help from the Australian public which has donated to our Syria appeal, Save the Children is running Child Friendly Spaces, providing a safe place for children to go to where they can play, learn, make new friends, and have a trusted adult to turn to when they feel ready to talk.

Our trained aid workers know how to recognise signs of distress in children, and run specialised activities to help them begin to recover from what they have been through, all the while providing a sense of safety and structure the children grow to trust.

Camps may become informal recruitment grounds

Numbering about 200, they looked as though they were waiting for something - as it turns out, for the arrival of a bus to take them back to Syria.

I was told that some were leaving to join the fight, while others were going back to check on family, homes, shops or fields - they could no longer wait in the camp for their situation to improve. I was told that this now happens every day.

Whilst we have only heard about this anecdotally, I was told adolescent boys are being encouraged by armed groups to return to Syria and join the fighting. From accounts on the ground, what we're seeing is a risk of these camps potentially turning into an informal recruitment ground for boys.

While some in the camp were forthcoming about this recruitment, families I spoke to were more reluctant to share information on their children's involvement.

The families I met with at Za'atari still have relatives in Syria, and no-one wants anything they say to increase the chances of a family member being killed - the reports arriving of more friends and family being killed are already all too regular.

One can easily understand a parent's reluctance to share information that could in any way link their child's name to an activity by any one of the armed groups waging war inside Syria, regardless of which side of the conflict.

Youth programs give boys a reason to stay

To provide positive alternatives and keep children safe, Save the Children has started up youth programs to keep young people engaged and active in camp life, decreasing the chances they will be tempted to leave their family behind and return to Syria to participate in the fighting.

One man I met, a Syrian champion wrestler, volunteers his time and skills with Save the Children to prevent exactly this.

Training with the boys and helping them work out their frustrations in a safe environment, wrestler "Captain Yousef" helps build their skills and self-confidence while keeping them engaged.

With funding in part from the Australian public, I saw for myself the difference our programs are making as these boys find more reasons to stay than leave - but the job is far from done.

Additional funding means we can scale up and work with more children, keeping them safe as the conflict continues unabated.